"Traditionally, we have been taught to keep our academic discourse cool and detached."
What a load of bologna. Not the statement, that's true. But the truth about the statement is upsetting to me.
Even the beginning of Wink's article gives me something to think about: detachment. Immediately after reading that I thought back to the meeting we had at Hamilton for our After School Program my first year tutoring. We were told not to hug the kids because it would give them ideas that they were allowed to grab people. I broke that rule every single day. It took me all of three minutes to realize that it was going to be a lost cause for me to try and avoid hugging the children. I know there are rules about how much contact is "acceptable" between a tutor and a child (ex, don't hit them) but when a 5 year old yells "hi Jennifer!" and wants a hug, well, just try and stop me from getting that hug.
That's what thought immediately struck me with just the first paragraph of the article. "We come from a tradition of thought that teaches that advocacy and passion are irrational and detachment equals rationality." And it's so true. We are taught that kids will be spoiled if we touch them affectionately, that they won't take us seriously. I have never found that giving a child a hug detracts from the respect they give you. If anything, denying a child their hug reduces their respect that they have for you. I've seen the children act around people who live by the "no affection is the best way" rule, and it's not pretty.
They know when they are not being treated fairly. They can tell when we treat them like objects instead of people, and It's so sad how often that becomes the case.
